Pests > Pests Entities > Weeds > Tradescantia spp., in vanilla, Solomon Is

July 2007. Vanuatu asked if members could identify a weed that a farmer in Solomon Islands was said to be using as a ground cover for vanilla with good results. There is was used as an ornamental.

Members identified the weed as Tradescantia sp. There are sveral species and they are all invasive. The GISD (Global Invasive Species Database) has profiles on two Tradecantia species: T. fluminensis:

http://www.issg.org/database/species/ecology.asp?si=497&fr=1&sts=sss and
T. spathacea: http://www.issg.org/database/species/ecology.asp?si=493&fr=1&sts=sss